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Captain Fired Over Sexy Emails He Sent

WUSA 9 Staff, WUSA 4:12 p.m. EDT July 8, 2012

Army Capt. John Hintz, right, and 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan, shortly after they were in a firefight with insurgents in 2010 near a combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan (CBS NEWS)(Photo: WUSA)

(MILITARY TIMES) --The married commander of a recruiting unit in Iowa was relieved after it was reported he and a former Des Moines schools superintendent exchanged racy emails from their work accounts.

Capt. John Hintz was relieved pending the outcome of a Recruiting Command-led investigation, according to John Largent, an Army spokesman. Hintz headed a Des Moines-based recruiting company.

"This type of conduct doesn't uphold Army values and what the Army stands for," Largent said.

The revelation of the emails between Hintz and Nancy Sebring led to her resignation from administrator posts in Des Moines and Omaha, according to WHO-TV in Des Moines.

Hintz has 14 years in the Army and is the recipient of the General MacArthur Leadership Award, the Army Commendation Medal with "V" and the Purple Heart.

Hintz did not respond to a request for comment.

The emails, released by the Des Moines school board in response to an open records request, reportedly contain discussion of a school fitness event Hintz helped organize but also discuss work, family and personal problems. Many of them are sexually explicit, WHO-TV reported.

Hintz and Sebring also discussed the ramifications of being caught. In April, Hintz switched from his military email account to a private account.

Sebring's resignation sparked a court battle in Iowa as she requested an injunction to block the school district from releasing the emails, arguing the messages were private. That request and a request that Hintz's name be redacted from the emails were denied.

According to the Des Moines Register, the district's policy states that communication over its networks should not be considered private. It also forbids using school computers for personal correspondence and the exchange of sexually explicit materials.

In a statement quoted by the newspaper, Sebring apologized to faculty, students and parents for "my lapse in judgment over the past several weeks."